Learning to bake
by Claude Amelia Song
Summary: A gift made with love is the best the gift you could give. Follow the Potter children how they try (and succeed) to bake a cake for their father's birthday.


**Summer Camp**

**Cabin Dumbledore**

**Task 7: **Pottery

Write about the Next-Gen kids making something for their parents on their birthday/anniversary/mother's day/father's day.

Words: 952

**Betaed by the amazing Ebenbild**

**Author's note: I am sorry to say, the recipe here has been written and given to me by my friend Ebenbild. I am no cooker or baker. She instructed me how to bake and I still made mistakes. Apparently you have to wait thinks to cool before putting them in the fridge. SO thank you so so much for betaing this story and sharing your recipe with me.**

James Sirius Potter wasn't a cook. In fact, none of the Potter children were good in the kitchen, despite their grandmother's attempts to educate them in the art of cooking and bakery. And yet, today, they were all in the kitchen, ready to bake their father's favourite cheesecake recipe. They usually bought him gifts, but they wanted this birthday to be special. He had been on Auror Missions for both Mother's and Father's Day and they were going away for their mother's birthday on a nice week-long holiday without them—the children. Which was alright. At fifteen, James sure didn't want to accompany them in the cheesy escapade. Same for thirteen year old Albus and twelve year old Lily. They were going to have fun with their Aunt Ela.

And that brought them here. Trying to make something special for their father's birthday. Aunt Ela was a great baker, amazing. She had lent them her famous cheesecake recipe. And had agreed to let them bake in her house, where there were no house elves. Their parents thought they were helping her redecorate. However, she had been called away to work nearly immediately, so they were alone now.

But then, how hard could it be to make a cake?

…..

_One hour and a half later_

Turns out, very hard.

"Albus, can you read that recipe again?" Lily asked while mopping the latest disaster.

"So,"Albus started," we have the flour here." he pointed to a bowl. We need to add sugar, eggs and butter. This time do _not _ put the egg exterior too! Separate them, James!"

"Also, a bit of water wouldn't hurt,"piped in Lily.

"Okay. This is done,"James said looking closely at the dough. He started kneading, this time making sure to not do it too long. The last three experiences weren't nice.

"How does it feel? Aunt Ela says it should be cloddy and sand-like in her notes." Albus asked peering at the bowl.

"Exactly like that. We're on the right road."

"So that's the shortcrust. Let's get on to the filling, boys. We do not have much time. Especially since it took us almost two hours to get this done!"

For a twelve years old, Lily Luna was quite authoritative.

"So. We need curd, sugar, vanilla, a bit of oil, lemon, eggs, custard powder and milk. We have to mix afterwards. It's done all-in at once."

While she was speaking, Albus put the ingredients all in another bowl and he started to mix them.

At the same time, James was preparing the cake pan. He'd spent a good portion of the last two hours playing with the oven, now he was quite a pro. He buttered and floured the pan, then started rolling the dough and putting it inside."

"James, make sure that it's spread over the pan and up the frame!" Lily shouted, recipe notes in hands. Their aunt was a life saviour. She had written the notes very fast shortly before running to work for the emergency. She was amazing like that. It was quite the fortune their father had sat next to her on the train with their Uncle Ron.

"Use this fork to make small holes throughout the dough. Here, take it," she continued, handing him the fork.

They let the dough bake alone for a few minutes.

"So…,"Albus broke the silence,"while we are waiting, what are the holes for?"

Lily smiled, but James was the one who answered. He'd read the notes, too.

"Apparently, without them the dough will rise thanks to the air beneath it and we don't want that."

"And, we are baking the dough first without the filling," Lily continued, pointing at the mixing bowl in front of him, " so that later, the dough will be done with the filling."

Albus nodded, but one could see baking wasn't in his future. In fact, none of them were truly enthusiasts, but they really wanted to make something special for their father. However, they were fascinated by their aunt. Her notes made them feel at least semi-chefs.

After eight minutes, they took the dough out and, after it cooled a bit they put the filling in. They set the timer for thirty minutes and sat to wait again, checking every few minutes if everything was okay. He was too nervous to wait for too long.

"James!" Lily shouted while checking the oven. "The upper part is getting too dark! We're gonna burn it!"

"No, no, no!" Quickly, the elder brother took the notes from the table and started scanning them.

"Okay. Got it! We need aluminium foil to cover it. The cake needs at least sixty minutes to be done," he said, putting the papers down. "Otherwise, the temperature is perfect at 200°C."

The three siblings couldn't wait to see what cake they had made. It was exciting and scary at the same time. _They _ had made something.

After it cooled down and the swelling lessened, they took it out of the oven. They let it on the counter for their aunt to put it in the fridge after it had cooled down completely. And, of course, took pictures. They looked delicious, especially with the powdered sugar they had added at the end.

"Hey kids! How is going?"

Their aunt voice sounded and they ran to her.

"We've done it!" James said, eyes shining with happiness. He couldn't believe they actually did it.

"I knew you could. Now go wash up and run home. Otherwise your parents may start believing I'm abusing you by forcing you to clean my house."

"Okay," they said and waved her goodbye. They couldn't wait to see their parents' faces at the party tomorrow.


End file.
